Page 27 of Rogue If You Want To
“Nope. I told you I will not leave without what is mine. He is in my pack, and he belongs to me. And just to make sure there is no misunderstanding, brother mine, I officially challenge you for the position of Alpha of our birth pack.”
“No. I refuse. I can’t challenge you. I’m marked rogue. It’s not my path. I’m marked. I want no part of that life. I’m marked.” And I’d tell him a thousand more times that I was marked if that was what it took.
“Aren’t you cute?” He spit at my feet. “You memorize the laws. You memorize them all. What happens if a challenge is denied?”
I started to play it back in my head. Fuck. He was right. I could refuse a challenge from anyone except for the pack Alpha.
Triple fuck.
“Don’t do it.” My mate’s hands tightened on my shoulders. “Let us put him down.” Gods, I wanted that so badly.
“I can’t. It will… trust me, doing anything will just make things worse.”
I placed my hands on Torin’s, on top of my shoulder, leaning my head back enough so he could scent me more easily.
“I need to do this. I need to protect our pack. My old bevy. And myself. Trust me.” My brother sneered at my use of the term bevy. Good. Let him be mad and distracted. Maybe then I might come out of this on the other side.
“I do. I trust you with all that I am.” Torin brought his lips to my ear. “I won’t let you die.” He whispered love for only me, deeper. “And that’s a vow.”
If it had been any other time, I’d have been defensive and focused on the sweet, romantic nature of what my mate had just said. But that wasn’t today.
I pulled off my shirt and started working the button on my pants. We were freaking doing this, and I hated it.
15
TORIN
This shouldn’t be happening. If anyone should be preparing for battle, it should be me. But Lutris would never accept a fight between my wolf and his otter. And in his eyes, the animosity between him and Otto had to be resolved. Besides, shifter law demanded that no one else interfered. I got that and so did Otto.
But my wolf didn’t understand why he wasn’t taking his fur and tossing Lutris’s otter in the air before sinking his teeth into the small beast.
This is the way it has to be. No one can fight your battles for you.
My mate shifted before his twin. Brown fur rippled over his small otter body.
“Look at you. Trying to be the hero.” Lutris sneered. It was an ugly sound that made me shiver.
If the pair looked alike in their human form, their beasts were identical. How would I keep track of who was whom?
Scent. Our mate’s scent is embedded in our memory
How did otters fight? This wasn’t the time to be doing research, and Creven put a hand in front of me, probably because he thought I might leap in. Unless Otto wounded his brother so badly that Lutris surrendered, interfering would prolong the situation and my mate would never be free.
The two otters circled each other as they prepared for battle, and I sensed the tension from the pack onlookers. I wondered for a brief moment, how many of them had fought battles that ended in their opponents’ death and/or them being ousted from their pack or den.
Lutris lunged toward Otto, I guessed aiming for his throat. I put a hand to my own, fearing if he made contact with my mate, blood would spurt. But Otto rolled away just before his twin clawed him. Lutris’s beast appeared stunned, and this gave my mate the advantage. He spun around behind his brother and snapped at his hind legs.
Some of the onlookers clapped, but Creven silenced them with a glare.
Lutris twisted away from his brother, and he lunged forward with surprising speed, again targeting Otto's throat, but my mate moved at the last second. Lutris's claws raked empty air where Otto's head had been, and Otto used the momentum to spin around behind his brother, snapping at his back.
Lutris twisted away from the attack and hissed.
Otters are very vocal. My wolf didn’t have much knowledge of the animals and neither did I, having only witnessed Otto being playful in the water.
My mate had regained strength from his daily swimming sessions, and he moved left. Oh no, he feinted and then dartedright, leaving his twin lagging. Surely Lutris would be aware of Otto’s beast’s fighting techniques. But it didn’t appear to be the case. Perhaps as the two did not get along, they hadn’t even engaged in rough and tumble play.
Ouch!My wolf cringed as Otto sank his teeth into Lutris. But my beast recovered and said,Well done.
